User blog comment:Biggren/Silvir Shadows/@comment-32303-20180618094917/@comment-3135907-20190619024015

@Wildy: The morning broke loudly, with the hustle and bustle of the subterranean dwellers and their hasty work; some prepared breakfast, and some prepared to eat it. After a short while (and indeed before anyone had a chance to see the food), the squirrel appeared, walking up with a certain dutiful motion, and bowed curtly to the otter warrioress and her kin. "Lady Rhia. The King will see you now. He's taking breakfast in his room, and invites you to join him." Runnan gets up quickly from the table, as does Riv, who gives Grimbol a nudge and a silent nod. The squirrel smiles thinly and walks off down the hall without waiting. Rhia jumped to her footpaws, thinking to herself. "Ah've been sae confused. Does anabeast remember where the King's chambers are?" she whispers to Runnan. "Follow me," said the squirrel simply. Rhiannon hurried to follow the squirrel, adding, "Ah. Ah thank ye." The squirrel offered no reply, guiding her swiftly and brusquely down cold halls, past flickering torches in ancient sconces, toward the hall of the King-Below-the-Earth. ~*~*~*~*~*~ The King was a small, thin rabbit with dark circles under his eyes. He munched a pastie loudly as he watched the guests enter the throne room. "Greetings. What brings these creatures to my court?" he raspily asked nobeast in particular. The Viceroy, sitting on a smaller chair carved from twisted white roots next to the throne, offered sharply, "That is a question I am not qualified to answer, your Majesty. Only our guests know why they are here. Speak!" "Ah thank ye sire." Rhiannon smiled at the King and bowed respectfully. The King hardly seemed to notice she spoke, then nodded ever so slightly. The Viceroy eyed them imperiously for a moment. "That's not an answer. Please tell our Lordship the reason for your presence in his Halls." "Sire, I and my Oathbound have come en peace, we mean ye an' yore kingdom no harm. We were outnumbered an' under attack by a band o' toads. . ." Rhia began explaining the threads of fate that had brought her so far. "We've all taken the same vow, t' kill a black weasel by the name o' Shadowheart." She swallowed hard. "He's killed, hurt an' wronged us all. We vowed t' avenge our loved ones. I was... ah was but a bairn when ah saw him murder mah oon Da en cauld bluid." Rhiannon looks to Riv as she adds with steely determination, "He wilnae escape justice." The Viceroy almost spoke, but the rabbit on the throne hushed him with a wave of his paw. The King's hooded, tired eyes showed a general boredom with the world as he finished the pastie and accepted a crystal goblet filled with deep reddish-purple wine from a wispy-furred old dormouse. He sipped slowly, then wiped his lips on an embroidered, lace-trimmed silken napkin. "Ah, the toads. Useless blighters. That's why we stay underground, you know. No sense in going back up at all, friends. Stay here, as long as you like." Rhiannon repeated herself, louder. "Shadowheart wilnae escape." "Oh, I'm sure. Go now, have some food. Eat. Drink. Stay as long as you like." The rabbit lifted his sceptre, pointing to the doorway to the throne room. Grimbol and Runnan bowed before turning and leaving. The morning meal was just starting. Though internally unsatisfied with his response, Rhiannon bowed to the king before turning and following Runnan out. ~*~*~*~*~*~ The table was spread, as the night before, with all manner of luscious and tantalizing fare. Cheese, bread, wine, and ale flowed from casks that never ran dry. Other beasts hurried in to take away platters and bring new ones, loaded up with fresh-baked tarts and cranberry scones, topped with sweet meadowcream. The newcomers set to it with a will. Rhia paced, nibbling on a scone. "What shuid ah dae noo, Riv?" Riv peered around the hall, then muttered, "I don't know rightly, but wotever it is'd best involve us gettin' out o' here. I don't like it. Too...I don't know...I jest don't like th' feelin'." "Aye, Ah agree. Shuid we gae back oop taenicht when they're asleep? Ah'd rather tak mah risks wi' tha toads, ef ye ken mah meanin," Rhiannon whispered in a barely-audible voice, suspicious of the squirrel who always seemed to know what they were saying without even listening. "Aye, that'd do grand in a pinch," the shrewess nodded keenly. "Aye. As soon as they're asleep, we're oot o' here," Rhia whispers in Riv's ear.